All posts tagged: Kyoto

Travel Kit: JAPAN

Published by

Welcome to Kit. It’s where we’ll be showcasing what we bought on our adventures, what handy and lust-worthy items might make your trip infinitely more enjoyable, or just travel-inspired products that spur on wanderlust. Just the thought of shopping in Japan makes me feel giddy. Department stores, stationary emporiums, shops full of kawaii gifts, manga-filled bookstores, tea house gift shops. Bring it! And if you’re anything like me, you also like daydreaming about what you might purchase even prior to setting foot in the country. If you can relate, this post is for you. It’s a sample of some of the treasures that I purchased on my trip to the Land of the Rising Sun. A little what and where. Alcali top from Soffitto in Shimokitazawa, Tokyo Alcali crossover pants from Soffitto in Shimokitazawa, Tokyo Calico bag from Hotel Claska in Meguro, Tokyo Matcha tea set from Iyemon Salon in Kyoto Shibori fan from Arashiyama, Kyoto Birkenstocks from Markcity, Shibuya, Tokyo Camping mug from Kamikochi, Northern Japanese Alps Stone sunglasses from Piledriver winter sport shop …

Sundown in Kyoto

Published by

Even weeks after leaving Kyoto, it’s hard to believe that this place even exists. It is the ancient, cultural heart of this Land of the Rising Sun, and to paraphrase a Japanese gentleman I met in Tokyo, who was speaking about the Japanese bombings of World War II, “if they had have bombed central Kyoto, there would have been no coming back from that”. And after taking a wander through the age-old streets of Gion, it’s hard not to agree. To arrive in this city and embark on a sunset stroll along the Kamo-gawa (which translates as Wild Duck River), and over the Shijo-Ohashi (Shijo Bridge), where Japanese women dressed in summer kimonos called yakata are pausing along the railing to have their photos taken in front of the distant misty mountains, you feel that you have stepped, if not into the Middle Ages when Kyoto was established, certainly into another time and place. After continuing at dusk over the bridge into Shijo-dori, the main tourist street in town, I slowed to peer at art …